In recent years, the solar cell apparatuses have increasingly been used, and many of the solar cell apparatuses are attached to the roof of a house.
When the solar cell apparatus is fixed on the roof of the house, a base is formed by assembling metal frames or the like on the roof. The base is formed as a part of the structure. The base is fixed to the roof by fixing apparatus. The solar cell apparatus includes a panel-type solar cell module. Generally, the solar cell module is fixed to the base. In many cases, a Japanese roof tile or a plain roof tile is used as a roof material, and various materials such as earthenware or cement are used.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-002772 discloses a solar panel fixing apparatus including a solar-panel-attachment roof tile having a notch formed in one end portion. The notch is formed deeper than a position of an end of a roof tile arranged underside. The solar-panel-attachment roof tile is placed over a normal roof tile made of ceramics and subjected to no working, so that a gap can be formed between the solar-panel-attachment roof tile and the normal roof tile. A support bolt of the solar panel is arranged in the gap, so that load imposed on the support bolt by the solar panel is prevented from transmitting to the solar-panel-attachment roof tile and the adjacent normal roof tile. In addition, according to the disclosure of Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-002772, cracking or damage in the solar-panel-attachment roof tile and the normal roof tile can be prevented. Moreover, intrusion by rainwater can be prevented by arranging a cover in the notch.
Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3084621 discloses a solar power equipment attachment base fixing apparatus, in which one end of a support bolt is fixed to a substrate. The support bolt is inserted in an elastic collar, which is in turn fitted to a hole in a boss of a drilled roof tile, and a longitudinal frame and a lateral frame are fixed to the support bolt. According to the disclosure of Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3084621, the support bolt comes in direct contact with the boss of the drilled roof tile, so as to prevent cracking in the boss.
A surface of the roof on which the roof tiles have been arranged is uneven, and many roof tiles are formed from earthenware. Accordingly, footing is unstable and slippery, and workability is poor. Therefore, a structure fixing apparatus for fixing a structure, that is readily attached to a roof carrying roof tiles or the like has highly been demanded.
In the solar panel fixing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-002772, it has been necessary to form a notch in a roof tile or to form a boss protruding from the surface of the roof tile. That is, the structure has been complicated. In particular, the roof tile having a boss formed in the surface should specially be manufactured.
Similarly, in the fixing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3084621 as well, it has been necessary to use the roof tile in which the boss protruding from the surface is formed and a through hole is formed in the boss. Such a roof tile should specially be manufactured.
In addition, the shape or the material of the roof tile is various, and the roof tile to which the structure can be attached is limited. In particular, the roof tile is limited in the case of attachment of a panel-type solar cell module along the surface of the roof In other words, the solar cell module cannot be attached in some cases, depending on a type of the roof tile.